Agnipath protests turn violent; 4 Coaches Of Passenger Train Set On Fire In Bihar

Four coaches of a passenger train were set on fire by a mob in Bihar this morning amid protest against the new military recruitment policy, Agnipath.

The train name Lohit Express was set on fire in Bihar which was on the way to Guwahati.

The coaches of the Jammu Tawi Express train were also set on fire at Mohiuddinagar station of Hajipur-Barauni railway line, as per report.

After evacuating all passengers from four coaches protestors set on fire, and as of now, all passengers are safe.

Several parts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have witnessed protests over the new military recruitment policy. The protest had spread to BJP-ruled Haryana and Madhya Pradesh too.

On Thursday, the second day of the protest against the scheme, which proposes a short four-year term for soldiers in the three armed forces with no gratuity or pension upon retirement, Bihar bore the brunt of the violence, with trains set ablaze, bus window panes smashed, and passersby, including a ruling BJP MLA, attacked with stones. The new plan attempts to reduce the government’s massive pay and pension costs, freeing up funds to purchase weapons.

Hundreds of young aspirants for jobs in the armed forces went to the streets across the country, from Ara in Bihar to Palwal in Haryana, and from Agra in Uttar Pradesh to Gwalior and Indore in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.

This morning, a mob entered a railway station in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district and vandalised a train and damaged railway station property, before the police used force to disperse them.